Edmonton Journal published alleged antisemitic cartoon

On August 1, the Edmonton Journal published the following cartoon by Malcolm Mayes which has been criticized for being antisemitic. The cartoon was in reference to the Capital One data breach where as many as six million people in Canada may have had their personal information (social insurance numbers, bank account information, etc.) leaked. Mayes illustration depicted what appears to be a menacing looking old Jewish man with a gratuitous big nose who was the data hacker and who stole people’s money as he sits inside their wallet. Importantly, the Capital One data hacker was identified as a woman, yet Mayes drew an image of an elderly (apparently Jewish) stereotypical man. The only thing missing from this cartoon is a Star of David and a yarmulke to play off the age-old antisemitic trope and Jewish conspiracy theory.

Our request for a meeting with the Edmonton Journal has not been granted in response to our letter regarding the recent antisemitic cartoon that they published. Further, while we received a response from them that they would look into our complaint, they have yet to provide us with anything further. This is unacceptable to us. A copy of our letter that we sent to them is available at https://www.jewishedmonton.org/news-and-publications. We will provide the link in a further facebook post and via Twitter. We will also be working closely with our national partner CIJA in moving forward with a formal complaint to the National News Media Council.